My Block is Movie Set

[josh]

There's a Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger movie being filmed outside my house. Every time I leave the house someone stops me and tells me I can't walk down the street. Every time I come home people jump in front of my bike to stop me. Kind of surreal. Haven't seen Mr. Depp around yet.

[Billy's Little Trip]

You should ask to be an extra. You're right there, Josh. Do it!

[Niveous]

I work in an area of NYC that they use for movies and TV on the daily so I feel your pain.

[josh]

Yikes, wouldn't want to deal with this all the time. I think they're only here for a week or two. Must be cool living in NYC, though! I haven't been in a while, but hopefully this summer I'll make a trip. @billy: I think they did all the extra casting back in April. I suppose if I make a big stink I could weasel my way in, make a couple of bucks, score a free meal or two

[Caravan Ray]

There is a scene in "Young Einstien" where they show the street around the corner from where I lived in Newcastle NSW.

That is the closest I have come to a movie set. Though I think that Yahoo Serious may now possibly live in a dumpster near me.

oh..I have been pissed in the pub in "Crocodile Dundee" (it is in McKinlay in central western Queensland)

[fluffy]

I have been to most of the filming locations for Breaking Bad, although I went there after the show was over. There were a bunch of spots in the show that were very familiar to me from my childhood, though, including the De Anza Motel, the Octopus car wash, and the drainage structure at Juan Tabo and Osuna (I always wanted to have a reason to use it as a filming location for a music video, myself), and some of the show's early drug-dealing scenes were filmed near where my mom used to have an art studio.

(Incidentally, the real restaurant that they used for Los Pollos Hermanos is terrible, and the only reason they get so much business now is because everyone wants to go there to see the Breaking Bad restaurant.)

Oh, and one time I went on a date at the Gardunos where the Whites stared down the Schraders. This was long before they did the tableside guacamole though.

Sci-Fi Channel's "The Lost Room" was also filmed primarily in Albuquerque (with a little bit in Grant), and you can recognize a lot of downtown Albuquerque in it, although they used a lot of CG to try to make it look like it was set somewhere else.

Mythbusters often films stuff at areas close to where I used to work. It's still really weird to see Bamboo Reef on TV since I walked past that pretty much every day for a year (when I lived downtown). I also occasionally caught random glimpses of who I was pretty sure was Adam Savage. I also bought my favorite sunglasses at a flea market that takes place on the Alameda air strip, where they do a lot of their vehicular myth tests.

Sometimes parts of Seattle are cordoned off as filming locations but it's never impacted me since I usually walk everywhere and it's easy to get an alternate route. The big disruption in my life is always the annual May Day protest, since it usually starts near my office and ends at the park a couple blocks from my house, and the whole city goes into high alert especially in those places. It was weird to watch the live news footage of what was occurring just two blocks away this year, and hearing sirens in real life just before they showed up on the TV. At one point when the protest was chilled out I thought about going there with a camera to watch but then shenanigans occurred and the cops suddenly went into full martial law mode, so I'm glad I viewed it from (relatively) afar. Still, that does count as a filming location, right?

[Niveous]

Elementary often films across the street from my house. Law & Order and Blue Bloods film frequently near my job. Other filmings near my job include Spider Man 3 (that was fun), The Blacklist (The first scene of the show is at my job) and the Proposal. Despite all that, I've never gotten to be an extra in anything I live near. But I did get to be an extra in The Wrestler (that was in New Jersey).

[Paco Del Stinko]

Every time I leave the house someone stops me and tells me I can't walk down the street. Every time I come home people jump in front of my bike to stop me.

You could tell them to scram or they'll get a call from your Uncle Whitey, but that probably doesn't carry the weight that it once did. Fortunately.

[josh]

Hah. I should try that. As expected, got hassled today again. Even worse. Had no less then four people stop me on the three blocks leading to my house including a cop who followed me into the alley my house is in to lecture me. I'm pretty sure if this continues my next song will be composed on a harmonica in D Block.

[Paco Del Stinko]

This is all starting to piss me off. I would be a mental man if people told me that I couldn't go to and from my home. Tough shit for you, Hollywood.

[Niveous]

Had to take a detour to get into my job today. The reason- Unforgettable (CBS).

[josh]

Never seen the show, but I have a feeling it's a lot more forgettable than the title suggests! Luckily the ordeal over here is done now. It was a lot quicker than I expected. Only a couple of days of actual filming and street closing.

[JonPorobil]

This is all starting to piss me off. I would be a mental man if people told me that I couldn't go to and from my home. Tough shit for you, Hollywood.

Yeah, in the same boat as you on this one. I like my movies and all, but they're not so important that they're worth interrupting the lives of people who aren't actually involved in production. Seems really presumptuous of the filmmakers. Like, "Oh, you weren't using this whole city block, were you?"

[Paco Del Stinko]

Indeed. I would certainly be fascinated by the process, but at the same time, you're not telling me when I can and can't go home. Of course, money speaks louder than I do. They wouldn't be filming where I live now, but they could have filmed a gritty crime drama at the area around my last apartment. Ha! If they ever make a book out of Townie, they probably will!

[Spud]

"Trouble in Mind" was largely filmed in the parking lot behind my office (well, it was my office at the time).

[Lunkhead]

Some of "Blue Jasmine" was filmed in South Park in San Francisco, when I was working at a startup (BandPage) two blocks from there. That was the park we'd all go to for breaks and walks (and smokes for some). I saw Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett filming there.